


Worth his While

by CarlQs



Category: Paladins: Champions Of The Realm (Video Game)
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-16
Updated: 2017-08-16
Packaged: 2018-12-16 00:50:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11817750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CarlQs/pseuds/CarlQs
Summary: A Drogoz head-cannon origin story





	Worth his While

Scratched claws gripped the corner of the corridor, caked in dried blood and dirt as a somber moon showered a dim light over the long stretch of cave. Despite having jagged walls, Drogoz`s Talons scratched the flat floors to the entrance of Djorden`s lair. After weeks of meticulous planning and a week of passing through hell and highwater he was finally at the pinnacle of his operation, the ever-elusive cave Djorden called home. The trek from his own lair across the Kresval Sea was eventful to a fault, and Drogoz`s wings were still cramping from his Odyssey. Dragons healed fast but the beatings he had taken along the way were too fresh to fade out of relevance, and the past week came crashing into Drogoz`s awareness as he truly rested for the first time in his journey. From here, the treasure was as good as his.  
A rolling trill came from his guttural voice as Drogoz mused over his memories of the expedition he had recently taken with Djorden and his men, to the peaks of Galdjiibal. The Liquor they shared was tremendous, but the haul they scored from the Aiconian merchants put it to shame. Over 1400 pristine crystal fragments and a total of three power crystals, each brimming with energy, and almost more exceedingly rare than the last. Djorden, surprisingly had cut his share in half in exchange for a trinket Fafzel had acquired from some of the upper quarters, but not to be outdone, Djorden had still taken the only power crystal Drogoz was interested in, a beautiful Dwarven cut affinity stone that glowed a deep maroon. Such a power crystal would create excellent propulsion, almost without compare, and with that crystal Drogoz`s dream sidearm would come to fruition, a propelled rocket launching device. Drogoz was sure of his design, but more importantly, sure of this crystal`s cut, as those of house Aico had remarkable taste.  
Drogoz shook from his memories to the stark realization that the room was flooding. On second thought, water was not molten. Turns out, he had been salivating a puddle of corrosive spit on his own feet. Right, focus. Drogoz was what was known as a “runt” among his peers, or as they lovingly teased “Tispe.” As such, he had to rely on his biting wit, incomparable situational awareness and dashing charm in place of brute strength, but his ultimate asset among his friends was his complete humility. Even among dragons he truly was a noble individual. “Fuck!” Drogoz yelped as he walked directly into an annoyingly obvious stalactite begrudgingly placed in Drogoz`s path.  
Regardless of poor décor choices, the entrance to the cavern was all but fitting of a dragon of Djorden`s stature and poise. A true Dragon`s Dragon, Drogoz hated the thought of stealing from him almost as much as he hated the thought of not stealing from him. With such a sobering consideration, Drogoz moved forward, using his wings to glide the subtle decline as to not make too much noise with his thunderous footsteps of pure Dragon strength. As Drogoz approached the “Door”, or rather a ramshackle stringing of hollow bones Djorden had certainly believed could act as a notice to entry, he realized his first challenge was not really a challenge but more a commentary on Djorden`s complete lack of intelligence and taste. Firstly, Drogoz recalled Djorden to be not only a heavy sleeper but also half deaf even when awake, thus giving Djorden his signature soft yell tone when he spoke, not unlike Drogoz`s mother when he was younger and would drop from the nest to swim with his sea serpent friends. Either way. The second glaring problem with Djorden`s choice of security was that the bones were constantly rattling and clanging in the wind, regardless of whether there was entry. Drogoz chose to be tactful and walked through the entrance, completely unbeknownst to the audibly snoring resident down the cave.  
Once inside a Dragons lair it is customary to leave an offering at the entrance, and as Drogoz refuses to succumb to the savagery of a common thief, he placed a griffin`s beak on the pedestal, as he knew for a fact Djorden had a thing for griffins, which he admittedly knew little about; mainly that the women were notorious for being controlling and completely void of patience for their romantic partners. And, apparently, they liked to bite, as shown by the red hue at the tip of this beak Drogoz brought from home.  
As Drogoz stealthily meandered down the winding hall, his claws scratching lightly at the floors he began to move towards the deeper segments of cavern. In one room, there was a gorgeous lamb drawn up and salted, undoubtedly to be roasted soon, and Drogoz couldn’t resist. He tore a mutton off the corpse and bit into it, succumbing to the flavors of a truly rare and exciting meat he was rarely graced with. While still delicious raw, he preferred an herb crusted rack of lamb himself, freshly pilfered from an unsuspecting restaurant. Moving past the kitchen the next room he came upon was Djorden`s bedroom, where he slept peacefully curled around a pillow the length of his grey and navy body, covered in griffin feathers and with a sewn beak and eyes at the top. What a horrifying display. Drogoz felt his body reel back in disgust at the image, but he composed himself and moved on.  
There were two doors left, both closed. One was certainly Djorden`s treasury and the other most likely a restroom. But the question remained, which one`s which? On his left stood a wooden door with a simple slit for ventilation at the bottom. A smart Dragon would make his treasury unassuming and normal to remove suspicion from it. Therefore, Drogoz chose to open the gaudy stone door with gems implanted throughout and a picture of Djorden etched into the top.  
While unimpressed with the frivolity of the door, what lied behind it could be nothing less than breathtaking. Piles of Crystals rolled over each other as warm and radiating pools of molten gold laid throughout. The walls were moistened to glisten in the glow of the rooms contents, giving an irresistible shimmer. Drogoz walked over to the table off to the side, where a foundry of molten elixir piped delicately into an intricate infusion chamber, and inside laid a gorgeous sapphire, peering through the looking glass in front of the infusion chamber, Drogoz could discern the runic writing across the crystals surface, so fine and exact in its application that the denominations allowed many enhancements to the power crystals. It had been a while since he studied enchanting, but he could see the hours of work put into this gorgeous rock. It was no soul sapphire, but he had never seen such a beautiful enchantment.  
Drogoz waded out of his pool of drool and set to work finding his prize. He carefully slid over to the cabinet of power crystals and immediately locked eyes with the beautiful garnet he came all this way for. As he silently reached out for his long-lost love, his claws wrapping around the fruit of his labor, he froze.  
“Li`l late` fer Sake isn`t it, Tispe?” Djorden drawled behind him.


End file.
